Going back over many hundreds of years, the technology for the carbonization of hardwoods for production of crude charcoal has remained unchanged.
Specifically, in the past century, various improvements, in traditional charcoal producing processes, have been introduced, resulting in a charcoal product containing less impurities and volatiles.
Additionally, utilizing Rotary Kilns, Multiple Hearth Furnaces, Fluidized Bed Reactors, Vertical Retorts, Gasifiers, or the like, improved charcoal has been converted into activated charcoal via high temperatures in a non-oxidizing or partially-oxidizing environment.
Unfortunately, many such systems and processes are typically costly, and require much energy. Moreover, many such systems and processes are still unable to yield desired quantities of quality charcoal.
Therefore, it is readily apparent that there is a need for a an apparatus and method for charcoal activation, wherein a multipurpose furnace system is utilized to manufacture high grade charcoal from hardwood starting materials, which, in turn, promotes the manufacture of activated charcoal, while providing a viable and significant cost saving alternative to ongoing, intensive worldwide, efforts to increase yield and quality of charcoal product.